A tale of the two Terrells; A look at the NFL's best of the 1990s; Who were among the sixth-round picks taken ahead of Terrell Davis in 1995

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

TALE OF TWO TERRELLS

In 2016, Terrell Owens said he felt "so disrespected" by being excluded from that year's Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class.

In 2017, shortly after learning he would not be part of the Hall's Class of 2017, Owens kicked it up a notch in a Tweet that read:

"HOF is a total joke."

Terrell Davis, a member of the Hall's Class of 2017, has been part of the body of opinion that has blocked Owens' path to Canton.

In December of 2008, as an NFL Network analyst, Davis was discussing changes the Cowboys needed to make.

"The first guy that's got to go," Davis said, "is T.O. … T.O., I'm sorry, you are a cancer. You got to go."

Owens backed off his 2017 election-day rancor with a new Tweet on election night. It read: "Congratulations to the Class of 2017! Well deserved."

BEST OF THE '90s

Terrell Davis squeaked into NFL Network's ranking of the top 20 players of the star-studded 1990s.

Davis was No. 20, which might not sound like much until one sees who else made the cut, and who didn't.

No. 1 is Barry Sanders, whose coach with the Lions, Wayne Fontes, opined to us recently that Sanders was the "greatest running back ever to play the game." No. 2 is another running back, Emmitt Smith, the all-time rushing-yards leader.

No. 3 is Jerry Rice, NFL history's most prolific receiver, followed by No. 4 Brett Favre, whose Green Bay team fell to the Broncos in a Super Bowl in which Davis was game MVP.

Hall of Famers not on the list include quarterbacks Jim Kelly and Warren Moon, defensive lineman Cortez Kennedy, defensive lineman John Randle and another former Davis teammate, tight end Shannon Sharpe.

SETTING THE SCENE

Terrell Davis' greatest moment as a pro was winning the MVP trophy after leading Denver to a win in the Super Bowl capping the 1997 NFL season. A look at that time frame:

- On Oct. 25, Chad Ogea got the pitching win and drove in two runs in a 4-2 victory that pulled the Indians into a 3-all tie with the Marlins in the World Series.

- On Jan. 24 (1998), Danny Ferry scored 13 points off the bench in the Cavs' 111-92 win over the 76ers. The Broncos won the Super Bowl in San Diego the next day.

- Cleveland was in its second year without an NFL team. The second-year Baltimore Ravens went 6-9-1 with Vinny Testaverde and Eric Zeier at quarterback (Zeier had been a QB at Georgia when Davis was a player there).

- Song man John Denver died in a plane crash; comedian Chris Farley died of a drug overdose; Princess Dinna perished in a car crash; Mother Teresa died in Calcutta.

- Future USC quarterback Sam Darnold was born.

- Urban Meyer was wide receivers coach at Notre Dame.

- Titanic won 11 Oscars. Tom Cruise was nominated for best actor but did not win for his portrayal of an NFL agent in Jerry Maquire (Cuba Gooding Jr. won best supporting actor from the same film).

- The top five TV shows: Seinfeld, E.R., Veronica's Closet, Friends, Touched by an Angel.

EXTRA POINTS

- Bill Belichick is famous for landing Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft.

Five years earlier, he missed a player who turned into one of the all-time Round 6 steals.

As head coach and draft czar of the 1995 Browns, Belichick spent a No. 136 overall pick on Weber State defensive tackle Tau Pupua, then used a No. 147 pick on Notre Dame wide receiver Mike Miller.

There was a mini-run on running backs. At No. 169 and No. 170, the Jaguars and Packers took Ryan Christopherson (Wyoming) and Travis Jervey (The Citadel). At No. 195, Belichick's old boss, Bill Parcells, picked Dino Philyaw (Oregon) for the Patriots.

Terrell Davis was still on the board. The Broncos nabbed him at No. 196.

- Davis and John Elway were honorary captains for Denver at Super Bowl 50, where the Broncos beat Carolina 24-0.

Davis was the first person the 2015 Broncos saw when they got off the plane at San Jose International Airport. Davis stood at the base of the Boeing 767's exit stairs and handed out Super Bowl 50 caps, one by one, to players and coaches

- Davis graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego in 1990, five years before Akili Smith.

In 1999, when the Cleveland Browns returned as an expansion team, they narrowed their choices for the No. 1 overall draft pick to Tim Couch and Smith. Smith wound up going to the Bengals at No. 3 overall.